


It does NOT look like a chocobo butt!

by leiden_potato



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, Spoilers, if u squint u can see prompto/cindy, major spoilers for chapter 14, prompto-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 02:37:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10401849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leiden_potato/pseuds/leiden_potato
Summary: Prompto's hair is the brightest blonde in Lucis, but why?





	

The first time Prompto noticed the abnormality of the color of his hair was in second grade when a girl gossiped to her friend loudly "My mom said he's a Niff because his hair is yellow."  
He didn't know what a Niff was, only that it was said the same way one would spit out words like 'dumb' and 'gross' so he didn't ask.  
The second time he felt self-conscious about the color of his hair was in middle school when he tried joining the 'video game fans' club but they refused because he was 'a stupid tattooed blonde' which was against their unwritten rules.

  
"Mom," He asked one day when she was back from work early, "What's a 'niff'?"  
Confused, she turned from making dinner to look at him, "It's short for Nifilheim, but honey they're the enemy." worried that he had heard the word at school, she asked, "Why? are the kids using it as a slur now?"  
He shrugged, "I dunno."  
"Well," She smiled and turned back to the stove, "Lady Lunafreya is considered a citizen of Nifilheim, and you like her, right?"

He blushed and dipped his head into his shoulders.

"They're not all bad."  she sounded like she was smiling.  
still slightly curious, he had to ask: "Am I from nihim- filhym... am I a niff?"  
"No, you're not." She said with gentle finality, "The orphanage had proof that you're a Lucian. Don't worry your little head about complicated adult stuff and finish your homework, dinner is nearly done."

* * *

  
Little Lady Lunafreya showed up live on the news once, when the prince went on vacation and it was on tv, the girl sitting in front of him in class sighed because 'her hair is sooooo pretty and soft!'.  
  
Prompto agreed, Lady Lunafreya was very pretty, and he had been in contact with her in person! (well, on paper, but it was a personal letter!) so blonde must be in fashion now!  
In highschool, for his huge 'adult debut', he decided to rock the natural color of his hair and styled it as best he could so people would think it was pretty and soft, too!  
  
Noct didn't make any comments on it, just as expected of the polite prince! (Except for when it was messy from sleep and he'd crack jokes about the bird's nest at the top) it must be fine! 

His friends, though, the nerd guy with the glasses and the really loud scary one; they didn't like him at all at first.

it didn't matter! Noct liked it and that's all that Prompto cared about!

Well... until the day they were supposed to leave for Altissia and they were in the throne room in front of the King Regis himself!

"Who is that?" The king had asked, his bellowing voice echoed in the hall like an accusation.

"He's my pal." Noct spared him a fleeting glance, "From high school."

"He will be joining us in Altissia as a royal guard." Ignis had added helpfully.

The king's eyes narrowed just a notch, and then swept his gaze over to the other occupants of the room. "And do you trust him to do a good job?"

"Yes, your highness." Gladio answered firmly, aware of how the king stressed the phrase 'do you trust him'. "We've known him for a couple years now, he'll do fine."

Prompto offered as many respectful bows as he could, but a part of him couldn't stop thinking about the king's wary frown aimed just above his eyes.

* * *

"Iggy has blonde hair!" He said suddenly, breathless from having pushed the Regalia all the way to Hammerhead. "Do you dye it?" 

"I have no time nor desire to do fickle things." The young man murmured in displeasure, wiping sweat off the bridge of his glasses for the fourth time. "What's your obsession with hair, anyway?"

"It's just!" He tried to explain with hand gestures and facial expressions, but the words didn't follow. "People can tell mine's natural, you know?"

"So?"

"So... do you dye yours or not?"

"I don't." He shifted his weight to the other leg, "And I'll have you know my hair is as dark as any Lucian. It is only lately that I have been going on drives to the outskirts of Insomnia -to confirm our exit documents- that I have been exposed to enough sunlight to bleach it." With an aimed glare for the boy to drop it, he sighed. "It's genetics, _not_ on purpose, I assure you."

"Oh..." Prompto leaned back on his hands, contemplating getting off the hot asphalt, when a lady walked out of Hammerhead's staff office.

Who he assumed was the 'Cid' they were supposed to meet for repairs was as radiant as the sun! Decked in bright yellow and reds, like the morning sun! Her hair was what caught his attention first, bright blonde and rich, and then her eyes found him. "Hiya! Which one of y'all is the Prince?" 

His mouth could only hang open, and Ignis saves the day by pointing an accusatory finger towards the right man.

Gladio edges closer and knocks his mouth shut with a click! his smirk and wink alluded to attraction, but Prompto was buzzing with excitement to have finally met another blonde!

He couldn't stop looking at her, she was beautiful and nice and smart and it was _definitely_ natural!

A secret warmth of belonging filled him every time he saw her, and it was always sad to leave Hammerhead behind and be the only yellow headed person in the area again. The guys teased him about his crush on her, and his crush on Luna, but he always laughed it off.

They'll never get it.

* * *

 

Aranea was bigger, taller, and much older than him, but he couldn't help but stare at her every moment she was with them.

That one time he had to keep her in his crosshairs, that other time she slapped him awake after drowning in a Flan, and definitely that time she was making King's Stew with Ignis at camp with her helmet off.

The realization was staring him in the face but he wouldn't look directly at it.

He didn't want to admit it, because if he did he will say it and if he said it they will not take him to Altissia with them...

When he finally meets Lady Lunafreya he will ask her, she will tell him the truth!

* * *

 

The headache woke him up before the voices did; his vision was blurry but he could tell the people around him were dressed in white, red, and yellow.

The yellow was their hair, the red was their uniform, and the white was their lab coats.

"It's waking up. What do we do?"

"I don't know, we cannot reach Dr. Besithia and the eastern office is on quarantine... We should wait for further commands from Izunia."

"...I can try to excavate for it."

"And then it will expire and then who will take responsibility?" The voices grew louder and more anxious, "You know if the core supply line dies the information dies with it!"

"That's if it even _has_ a core!" one of the doctors, another blonde, leaned down into his field of vision to look into his eyes. "It looks human to me... At the right age, too."

"...What are you talking about?"

The silence was making his ears ring. "You know... The _stolen generation_."

"No way..."

"I don't understand! Please explain!"

"Look at it, bright hair, bright skin, barcode. A niff if I've ever seen one." A hand reached through the fog in front of him to grab his chin and force his head up. "A niff who has been in Lucis for _decades_. There's more information here than any MT spy unit can gather, we just need the _right method_ to _extract_ it."

* * *

 

Was this why Noct tried to kill him?

Did someone on the train make a comment about his appearance- his yellow hair and his sunburnt skin and his unconscious desire to wear red- was that it?

His ribcage was closing in on him in this information extraction device, but he willed the pain away. Ardyn was conversing with someone over he intercom and he caught a laugh; that bastard only laughs when he's having fun and lately he'd been interested in nothing but his friend-

Were they friends, though?

Was Noct coming for him at all?

The Keep is just a buffer between the prince and his goal; it's compeltely possible that they'll just pass through and go-

No!

Noct wouldn't do that!

Noct was a great person, he was a real pal! He loved him like a brother and he will not abandon him!

Even if he _did_ try to kill him... and pushed him off the train... and didn't try to fetch him afterwards even though he lay in that icy river for _hours_...

It's fine, he grit his teeth and swallowed the blood pooling under his tongue, he kept his mouth shut for days, he can do it for a little bit more.

Noctis will come, and he will be rescued, and he will tell them the truth!

Well... The jury is still out on that last one...

Now that they've seen what 'the niffs' are like, they might not like him anymore...

* * *

 

The left side of his bangs had burned to a crisp after barely missing a swing from a Red Giant, his right arm was probably definitely broken, and he couldn't tell if the ringing in his ear was from shooting his pistol a little too close or if he had permanent hearing loss.

The flickering lights of Hammerhead greeted him dimly, the particles in the air danced away from his breath and disintegrated on his skin. 

Cindy turned from whatever she was unwinding from an old clunker to take in his appearance. "Hiya! You doing awright there?" Her face fell the closer he got, and then her eyes swept the horizon behind him. "Where are yer friends?"

He couldn't tell her about what happened at the crystal, not like this. "I'm a niff." He choked, the weight of suppressed childhood memories finally hitting home. "I'm from Nifilheim!"

"I know." She said simply, taking her hat off to show respect for whoever she assumed was lost in the fight. "I've known from the moment I saw ya, sweety. Yer pals too. I'm sure."

The flicker of her eyes to his hairline was a clear sign of what tipped her off. "All along? And you- you didn't say anything?"

With a smile and a light shake of her head, she slapped his chest with the back of her hat. "All of us niffs have light hair, it's just genetics!"

 

 


End file.
